Session 21:
(12:13:14) STExalted: First week, the reconstruction effort goes without hitch. Second week, it goes incredibly well, in fact, you can shave off a day or two from your efffort. The third week, however, got a minor snag when your worker hit something.. unusual. (12:13:15) STExalted: Another ruin. (12:13:15) STExalted: It is located near the border of Twin Rivers - just a bit further from southeastern wall, in fact. Apparently, local Geomancer managed to divine the location, before he goes bonker and have to be put down - that's enough to make the worker spooked, but they are dedicated enough to dig until you can see the entrance. Fortunately, it is quite far from actualy city it doesn't affect (much!) reconstruction effort. Unless you plan to expand the city, in that case you should account for it. (12:13:19) STExalted: It appears the place is part of manse network, but you aren't sure whether it is actual manse or not. (12:13:22) STExalted: Do you want to prepare before entering the ruin? (12:37:21) STExalted: "You want us to help you?" Honnou state, looking at Peerless. "Well, I don't mind. Same with Raijin, and I think Violet Soul would help you regardless what I say," he chuckles. "I'm not sure with the rest of my company, though. They may be loyal, but well, they are still mercenary, you know? It'd help if you have something to trade. How about we get 25% loot from the place? We'll handle the splitting the artifacts afterward." (12:39:00) STExalted: "Of course, I'll help you dear~!" Nia hugs Lost_. "I'll be ready when you are ready!" (12:42:56) ***Lost_ smiles at Nia and asks her for a moment. He then turns and looks towards the assembled people. (12:45:10) Lost_: "We do not know what we will find in there or even what is cursed or not. So how about this, we instead give 25% of the money's worth of the loot instead? You can even ask for artifacts, once we have examined them to ensure their safety. I do not want to pay you only to find you dead later at the hands of some vengeful ghost." (12:46:39) STExalted: Honnou raise his eyebrow. "You do realize some of those artifact is literally priceless, right? If you are sure you can afford it I don't mind, but it's probably cheaper to just pay us upfront." (12:48:07) Lost_: "Hence why I mentioned them separately." (12:49:10) Lost_: "I apologize for any mistakes but I did not mean artifacts in my offer." (12:51:11) ***Peerless frowns in thought, thinking on something more.../concrete/. "How about...half a year of exclusive contract when we found another abandoned tomb/manse/things related to the long lost past, including the five days of Calibration? Mind you, I'll still need to discuss with Spider on it - she's the one doing the paperwork." (12:54:32) STExalted: Honnou shakes his head. "I don't think they'll accept that, no. Alright, we'll be ready as soon as possible, don't worry. We'll met you at the entrance." (13:00:39) STExalted: You are currently standing on front of ruin's entrance, surrounded with your allies. Both Jade sibling remain calm, while Violet remains wary with Nia. Nia herself smirks, and standing close to Lost_. (13:00:39) STExalted: The entrance to the ruin is clearly once a wall, and much too small for more than one person to enter. The way forward is too dark, though, and you can't distinguish anything else. (13:00:40) STExalted: Nia narrows her eyes. "Hmm.. it looks like normal room. Small, probably served as closet for a much larger room. I can see one door. So, who wants to go first?" (13:04:25) Dusk: "Anything I should worry about? I doubt it's trapped physically, but I can't say for magical trap or wards." (13:05:39) STExalted: "Umm... trapping closet is not usually what they do, I think?" Violet piped-up. "Usually, they put it in hallway." (13:06:04) STExalted: Honnou sighs. (13:06:07) Lost_: “One second Everyone.” I say even as I look at the beyond. I blot out the world as I look at the patterns and flows of the world around me. I pay special attention to the room as I look at the depreciated walls to see if I can find the telltale signs of active traps. I strain myself as I take in the image of the rotting and worn room, from its small dimension (13:06:17) Lost_: to to the way the shadows played around with the light. (13:10:16) STExalted: Lost_: Your vision explodes to the blur of colors, and you can see... well, a small room. There are a pot of something, that appears empty to your Essence sight, but you can see there's concentration of Essence in the next room. (13:10:56) STExalted: "If you Anathema aren't brave enough to check, I'll gladly sacrifice my life for the �actual �prince of Earth," Honnou state, before entering the ruin. (13:12:04) STExalted: Couple minutes later, he shouted from inside the ruin. "No, there are only a couple empty pots. No trap that I see. Ah, looks like this room can only contain three more people, though. Unless we get out to the next room." (13:13:15) Dusk: "Hm, wonder what they use this pots for," (13:13:18) Lost_: "Well then, shall we." I say as I follow after the brave fool. (13:13:22) Peerless: "Damnit Honnou, at least let the sorcerer tell us if there's any traps in there," Peerless said, going in after the Dragon-blooded. "Oi, Lost_, go in after us." (13:13:48) Lost_: "Already there." I say as I enter the ruin. (13:15:20) STExalted: "It is...." Nia dab some of the liquid, before sniff it. "Looks like cleaning supplies. And look," she gestured at wooden splinters. "Maybe it's �actual �cleaning closet?" (13:16:15) Lost_: "......and here I was, thinking they were chamber pots. Then again this IS a first age ruin...." (13:16:40) Dusk: "Out of all the places," Dusk mutters as he reaches for the exit. "Let's see the hall way." (13:19:31) Lost_: "Alright. I am going to open the door to the next room. I can see active essence in the next room so be prepared." I say as I open the door to see what was on the other side. (13:23:17) ***Peerless readied his sword, unsheathing it from his back. Beside him, he could see Honnou taking out his weapon, ready to burst into flames at the sign of danger. (13:23:41) STExalted: The next room isn't dark - instead, there are eleven faintly glowing white obelisks, haphazardly positioned. Between them, various broken pillar, stones, and other... well, ruins scattered on the floor. (13:24:55) STExalted: The obelisks are grafted with Old Realm script, though a picture of various objects can be intuited even if you don't know Old Realm. (13:25:35) STExalted: Honnou lets out a long whistle. "Well, then. Now, I'm worried. What do you think, Violet? Does this looks like Solar tomb to you?" (13:25:48) Peerless: "...Lost_, Spider, what're we dealing with now?" (13:26:36) STExalted: Violet nods. "I've never seen anything like this, though... but it kinda fits." (13:32:48) STExalted: Dusk: You can see some of the damage is caused by battle, but they are not fresh. (13:33:38) Lost_: Even as the others bicker to ease their unease, Lost_ is already busy analysing the situation. Tracking how the energy flows from, to and between the obelisks, Lost_ makes notes on how the Old Realm Skripts alter the flows. He examines the position of the pillars and tries to use his knowledge of Geomancy to get an Idea on their purpose. Finally he examines the scriptures themselves to determine their meaning, drawing upon past memories of…..simpler times. (13:34:40) Dusk: "There was a battle here. It's been awhile though, so we don't have to worry about living interruption," Dusk say. "Why there's a battle here is another thing though." (13:42:51) STExalted: Spider and Lost_: The Obelisk speak the deeds of Sky-Sight Deramol Cana, who singlehandedly kills behemoths that ravages Creation. It also speaks about his loo... uh, I mean, trophy from his various conquest, ranging from behemoths' parts to various artifacts. (13:44:09) STExalted: Lost_: The Obelisk, it seems, is linked to various part of the tombs. Of course, it looks like there was more than one obelisks, as you can see there are several 'severed' Essence that tries to connect to ruined Obelisk, and you can see some of those Obelisk have no thread to connect to. (13:44:32) STExalted: ..I mean, there were more than eleven obelisks. Pardon. (13:47:40) Lost_: "Well....." I mutter, as Spider and I finish explaining what we have just learnt to the rest of our fellows. "The question is....now what?" (13:48:31) Peerless: "What happens if we reconnect the...threads of the Obelisks?" (13:49:08) Dusk: "Activate this place's defense grid?" (13:49:18) Dusk: "Not an entertaining thought." (13:49:21) STExalted: "You have to fix the Obelisks, though." Violet says. "Maybe even rebuild them. Unless, I don't know, you can fool it so it thinks the Obelisk still exist?" (13:49:47) Spider: "Well, what would fixing the obelisks do?" (13:49:53) Lost_: "And fooling around with it may set off something worse." (13:50:06) Spider: "Move us there?" (13:50:20) Peerless: "...Curiousity may very well kill the cat, Lunar shapeshifter or no." (13:50:21) STExalted: Violet shrug. (13:50:41) Peerless: "Fine, we won't do anything with the obelisks for now." (13:50:55) STExalted: "Mmm. Why don't we actually sweep room to room? That's what we plan to do, right?" Nia says. (13:51:23) Dusk: "Pair up then." (13:51:34) Lost_: "Well, most first age tombs were made to satisfy the Solar Ghosts when they were all killed. It could very well be that the Solar so mentioned may be still around as a Ghost. So yes that is a good idea." (13:52:16) STExalted: "We should stay in one group," Raijin suddenly speak. "Pairing, but don't split. Dangerous. Hallway, not the best for ranged combat. Bad for Daiklave." (13:53:03) ***Dusk nods (13:53:24) Dusk: "I agree, whatever caused the battle here might still be around." (13:55:10) Peerless: "I prefer thrusting attacks and swift draws than slashing, Raijin, but thanks for the advice," Peerless smiled at the Air-Aspect as he readied his Plasma Tongue Repeater on the other hand. "It's been a long time for me to feel the thrill of simple combat." (13:55:21) STExalted: "Well, since you are the one that ask, Peerless, do you want to go forward? There are only one way there," Honnou gestures to the sole exit of the room. Well, excepting the closet from where they come. (13:57:09) Peerless: "Gladly, Honnou," he glanced at him, before walking cautiously into the hallway, eyes scanning for any threats, mundanely hidden or otherwise. "Lost_, I presume there're no surprises here?" (14:01:49) STExalted: Lost_: You don't see anything strange in the hallway, though you can see another Essence gathering at the end of it. (14:02:32) Lost_: "Sorry Peerless. All I can say is that there is something up ahead, nothing more accurate." (14:04:25) ***Peerless sighs at Lost_'s diagnosis. "Well then team, advance carefully," he said, before moving forward, his daiklave on a defensive position and the essence weapon ready to be fired. (14:08:19) STExalted: If the next room is filled with Obelisk, this one is filled with statues. Golden statues filled the room, shaped in a likeness of a man, though their features are indistinct, each of them wielding a weapon - the one on the front wield a spear, the one in their back wield a sword and shield, then the next one wield a crossbow. There are fifteen statues, total. (14:09:30) STExalted: Lost_: You can see the statues are imbued with Essence, though vast majority of them doesn't contain active Essence. There are only.. five of them? That still contains active Essence. Two on the front, two in the middle, and one in the back. (14:10:44) Dusk: ".....I...don't like those statues." (14:10:47) Peerless: "Lost_...should we be worried on the essence-imbued statues would come to life?" Peerless' eye twitched as he asked the Twilight Solar. 'Fucking First Age Twilights' (14:10:55) STExalted: "...Golden statues. Army. With weapons. Well, this looks like a trap." Honnou says. (14:11:07) Lost_: "I......actually wouldn't mind that at all." (14:11:41) Lost_: "Would make one hell of a good research material. Even if it was in peaces." (14:12:20) Peerless: "Would you like me to.../break/ them into pieces, or would you personally use your Sorcery to do so?" (15:22:03) STExalted: "I see no puzzle..." Violet fidgets. "And there are five entrance to this room. These," she gestured at the far end of the room, where there are two exits. "And these," she points your left and right, each one leads to hallway. (15:22:24) STExalted: "We don't have to pass the statues if we go to left or right, then." Honnou says. (15:25:24) Lost_: "One moment." I say. "Let me first test those statues." (15:26:06) ***Lost_ then orders his demon to walk past the concerned statues and even tap them a few times. (15:45:55) STExalted: There is a groan, when the statue comes to life and attack the Baidak! (16:01:36) Dragon_: Dragon draws her War Fans and enters the Crane Form. Standing ready. (16:08:10) ***Peerless calmed his breath, his daiklave now bathed in golden light and he felt himself becoming stronger and faster, the all-encompassing power of the sun infusing his body... Category:Exalted: Bright River Chronicles